HWPI Volunteer Spotlight: Ken Fischer
Special from the Huron Waterloo Pathways Initiative
We would like to introduce our August Volunteer of the Month, Ken Fischer. Ken is a husband, father, and grandfather who retired in 1987 after 30 years as president of the University Musical Society of the University of Michigan.
Ken currently teaches Arts Leadership at U-M, does a bit of consulting, serves on a few boards, volunteers with various community organizations, and tries to keep up with his two pre-teen grandsons in the San Francisco Bay Area as much as possible.
Ken Fischer’s HWPI involvement came through his connection to Karen McKeachie. He first met Karen back in the 1960s when she was in intermediate school and he was in U-M grad school, moonlighting as her French horn teacher.
His friendship with her and her family grew when he returned to Ann Arbor for the UMS job. Devastated by her tragic death in 2016 when she was cycling on the Dexter-Chelsea road, he wanted to do something that would both honor her and provide a safer way for cyclists and runners to train. When he learned that Karen’s Trail would be a part of the larger B2B effort, he wanted to get involved.
UMS President Emeritus Ken Fischer’s New Book: ‘Everybody In, Nobody Out’
According to Ken, “I had no idea when I asked the B2B folks ‘What can I do to help?’ that I would come to know such an exceptionally dedicated, talented, savvy, and successful group of people determined to get the B2B trail built in record time. They recognize that to accomplish their — now our — goal we must work together with others, urging everyone to put their best effort forward for the benefit of our community. Our approach is working amazingly well.
HWPI’s vision is for healthy, active, and connected communities. How can someone who believes as passionately as I do in ‘Everybody In, Nobody Out’ not be an enthusiastic volunteer with the B2B project that connects communities and will be welcoming to all for generations to come?”
Thank you, Ken, for your tremendous support of our work!
For more the Huron Waterloo Pathways Initiative, click HERE
